Personality Disorders: An Overview

Personality disorders are chronic mental illnesses that can range from mildly unsettling to severe. They arise from a person’s home environment, as well as from genetic and chemical causes. Treatment options include psychotherapy (counseling), medicines, and self-help approaches. Some people may need the personalized attention that only hospitalization can provide.

A personality disorder must fulfill several criteria. They cannot be diagnosed just on the basis of one characteristic. People with personality disorders have an inflexible pattern of understanding people, thinking, and behaving that makes it difficult to adjust to their environment. This is serious enough to affect their functioning. But, in some cases, people with personality disorders may not think they have a problem or may not want to change. Personality disorders are usually recognizable by adolescence and continue throughout adulthood, and they become less obvious throughout middle age.

The following information is an overview of ten clinically diagnosed personality disorders and their symptoms.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

With antisocial personality disorder, there is a pattern of disregarding or actually violating others’ rights, which usually includes most of the following:

Failure to conform to lawful behaviors

Deceitfulness

Impulsiveness

Irritability and aggression

Disregard for safety

Irresponsibility

Indifference to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another

Avoidant Personality Disorder

A pattern of feelings of inadequacy, extreme sensitivity, and social inhibition, which usually involves:

Avoidance of interpersonal contact

Fear of being shamed or ridiculed

Preoccupation with being criticized or rejected socially

Acting inhibited in new interpersonal situations because of feelings of inadequacy

Feelings of being socially inept, unappealing, and inferior

Fear of blushing or crying in front of others

Borderline Personality Disorder

With borderline personality disorder, there is a pattern of instability and shallowness in one’s personal relationships, usually related to one’s self-image and marked by:

Schizoid Personality Disorder

A pattern of being detached from and unemotional in social relationships, demonstrated by:

Avoidance of close relationships

Solitary activities

Little, if any, interest in sexual relationships

Pleasure in few, if any, activities

Lack of close friends or confidants other than immediate family members

Indifference to others’ praise or criticism

Schizotypal Personality Disorder

A pattern of acute discomfort with close relationships, combined with distortions of thought and perception, and eccentric behavior, demonstrated by:

Odd beliefs that influence behavior

Unusual perceptual experiences, including bodily illusions

Suspicion and paranoia

Odd, eccentric, or peculiar behavior and attitudes

Lack of close friends or confidants other than immediate family members

Excessive anxiety around others

This content is reviewed regularly and is updated when new and relevant evidence is made available. This information is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with questions regarding a medical condition.